Introduction
In the last few years, focus has turned to regenerative therapies. This just means therapies that promote the healing and optimal function of your own cells in your body. These have been used in cosmetics to make nice smooth skin and collagen, in musculoskeletal and joint conditions and hair restoration procedures.
The aim is to find sources of growth factors that can be delivered into the body to get cells functioning.
One important treatment is taking the growth factors from our own blood and injecting them into other areas. Platelets are the blood components that help in healing a wound; they contain a rich supply of growth chemicals. Plasma is the fluid in our blood. Platelet Rich Plasma is a substance made of our own bloods’ platelets in plasma prepared in a way to be injected for regenerative purposes.
What is Platelet rich plasma?
Platelet Rich Plasma is a concentration of over 1 million platelets per microliter harvested from a person’s own blood that is then secondarily used to promote tissue regeneration. The use of this treatment involves having blood taken, spinning the blood to obtain the platelets and then injecting the PRP into another body tissue.
What is PRP used for?
PRP is used for…
- Facial rejuvenation
- Hair growth
- Scars
- Joint injections
- Collagen rejuvenation
What are the risks and considerations of PRP?
Because platelets come from a patient’s own blood, allergy and reaction are rare however there is pain associated with taking the blood sample, anaesthetising or injecting the target tissue and some patients may experience soreness at the site
after the procedure. Most of the time this pain will be relieved with simple analgesia such as paracetamol.
Some medications will affect the use of PRP. As such, you should inform your doctor of all medications you take regularly prior to arranging PRP. Similarly, infections, cancers, chemotherapy, recent accident or surgery or alterations of the skin site to be injected also affect the use of PRP and we ask you to disclose this to the doctor prior to the procedure.
Is PRP uncomfortable?
For some procedures using PRP, a sedating medication may be used to help with discomfort; this is not because of taking the PRP but based on where it needs to be injected.
Sedating medications are used in small doses and we recommend to be aware of potential sedation or side effects and to take precautions in regards to any activities such as driving, making financial or business decisions until the effect has worn off.
Most patients can resume normal activities after injection of PRP however we recommend not swimming or soiling the area injected for at least 2 days after injection until the skin opening sites have healed. If you have any redness, discharge, unexpected pain or concerns please contact us early to address these issues.
What are some of the side effects from PRP?
PRP used for hair loss may induce a temporary shedding of existing hairs a they move into a different phase of growth. This is a natural part of the PRP treatment and will normalise over time. Other side effects on the procedure include altered sensation of the skin when numbing agents are used and these generally wear off by
the next day. Sometimes, injections into the scalp can cause swelling and a ‘black eye’ and medications can be used to address this should it occur.
PRP used for eyebags can sting a bit and lead to a bit of swelling for a few days. The same is true for PRP injected for skin rejuvenation.
You should inform your doctor of any medications you are taking prior to the appointment, any recent medical issues or surgeries, to present with clean scalp if appropriate, to take precautions in the event of sedating medications being used and to expect some mild pain and swelling after the procedure and not to swim or soil the area for 2 days.
